


A Glass Bead Game

by JaguarMirror



Series: Glass Bead Universe [2]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:08:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25742575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaguarMirror/pseuds/JaguarMirror
Summary: Anduin Wrynn's received an invitation to a Hallows End party.  He wants an investigation and Shaw suspects that N'Zoth's influence has turned the king paranoid.
Relationships: Mathias Shaw/Flynn Fairwind mentioned
Series: Glass Bead Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916869
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44





	A Glass Bead Game

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the names mentioned are in the game. 
> 
> My first story for the archive. @whee!

Mathias Shaw strode down the long main corridor of Stormwind Keep, listening to the ring of his boot heels against the gray slate tiles. He liked the feel of these new boots; the was heel hard enough to make footsteps ring if he wanted to make his presence known or to dominate a scene and the sole was soft and flexible enough for walking soundlessly and for climbing. It was a concession to his own vanity -- as Spymaster, the number of occasions where he needed to climb buildings or prowl undetected through a city were limited. Nowadays those activities were something he'd assign to younger agents -- and possibly to Flynn Fairwind, but that was another matter entirely.

The keep was relatively silent at this hour. The ambassadors had gone for their evening meal, the various councils had come and gone in their appointed order, paperwork had been signed for the most part, and King Anduin Wrynn had retreated to the royal apartments where the thick silvery stone of the building muffled the noise of the city and the wide mullioned windows opened to a view of trees and the mountains. 

Shaw wound his way up the long staircase, nodding to the guards as he passed them, making his footsteps loud enough to announce his presence. The guard who stood in front of the king's workroom saluted briefly and opened the door. "He's expecting you, Master Shaw."

Anduin Wrynn stood at a table, hands braced on the surface, head down, staring intently at a thriee-teired game board; one of the many things from his childhood that he still kept. A plate of food sat on a nearby table, mostly untouched. He greeted Shaw with a tired smile and indicated a chair beside the gaming table. 

Shaw gave a brief nod. "Your Highness."

Anduin closed his eyes briefly and rubbed his forehead. "So, Spymaster, what have you learned about Abbey Watkins?"

Shaw cleared his throat and handed over the slim leather notecase. "Lady Abigail Ironhall-Watkins, second daughter of a very minor house of nobles from Tirgarde Sound. Father was a judge, a distant cousin of the Proudmoors and the Ashvanes. Her mother is a Kenning from the southern part of Tiragarde Sound. Three brothers, one sister. They lost part of their estate in the Horde raids, but other than that got through recent events relatively unscathed. She's married to a Faron Watkins of Foxhollow in Tirgarde Sound. They have a large house in Boralis, and are known for throwing lots of parties for the ultra-wealthy and the noble families. She invited our Champions to Norwington's annual hunt festival; a popular local fair."

"Did they go -- the Champions?"

"A handful went. Some of them were there when a group of troggs swept in. The Champions mopped things up pretty quickly."

"Good." Anduin said absently as he leafed through the notecase. He selected a few of the papers and spread them out on the table where he could study them. After a moment, he began pulling a series of gaming pieces made of glass beads from a drawer and set a few of them randomly on the three tiers of the board. 

Shaw gritted his teeth and clamped down on a brief flash of irritation. Fiddling with toys might help Anduin focus on whatever it was that was bothering him, but it had been a relatively long day at SI:7 and Shaw didn't want to sit and wait while the young king ruminated over the entire slim dossier. 

The sky was fading to blue-black. Flynn would be home, and with any luck this business with the king would end soon and he could go home, too. He watched as Anduin added a gray bead to the top of the largest game piece and then began quickly placing other tokens neatly on the upper level of the gaming board, topping a few random pieces with the little gray glass beads. "Do we know anything else about her? About why she would be tapped as hostess for Selkirk Isenstrider and his wife Nardina?"

"Lady Watkins has a talent for organizing and is considered to be the finest hostess in Kul Tiras. She's one of the sponsor for the Norwington hunts and for the McCrearys' midwinter balls. The newer money, like the McCrearys, don't have the social contacts that she does. So when Lady Watkins co-sponsors an event, it brings out the remnants of the old Kul Tiran aristocrats. The old families bring their titles, the new families bring their money, engagements happen, bargains are struck. Same as here or anywhere else."

"And now she's listed as one of the hostesses for Selkirk Isenstrider's Hallows End ball." There were a lot of pieces on the board now. Anduin adjusted a final one, then stepped back and touched a button and thin spiderwebs of glittering light began weaving a complicated pattern, connecting all the game pieces. Most of them converged on the tallest piece; one made of Stormwind royal blue beads. His eyes narrowed as he studied the board. "But Watkins doesn't have any obvious connection to House Isenstrider by kinship or marriage."

"You seem worried by this."

"Overly-worried, you mean." Anduin's guess cut to the heart of the matter. He pushed a sheet of expensive stationery towards Shaw. "This showed up today. Selkirk Isenstrider and Lady Abagail Watkins have sent a most gracious invitation, asking the High King of the Alliance to please join them at the estate for the Hallows End festivities."

"There's no reason why you shouldn't go and enjoy. Take a break from this, your Highness. There's nothing pressing at the moment." He didn't add "you need it" but the thought was there.

Anduin barked a short harsh laugh. "Oh, this isn't an innocent invitation to come be a political centerpiece for a splendid party weekend. Not from Selkirk Isenstrider."

Shaw looked at the window and the darkening trees beyond. N'Zoth's visions had tainted a lot of things; damaged trust, damaged spirits. It was hard to gauge how much Anduin had been affected by the Corruptor, N'Zoth's power never reached its full peak, but a cloud of dark suspicion seemed to hang over everything these days and there was a big demand for sleeping potions to help keep away nightmares. "We haven't noted anything unusual about his family," he said evenly. "They supported the war, contributed to refugee relief efforts like the rest of the nobles. His older brother died in the Broken Isles two years ago." 

"I remember. That was one of the first letters of condolences I sent as king. His parents retired from court life after that."

"I'll have my operatives open a full dossier on them." With luck, that would satisfy the king and he could get back home before midnight.

"You might as well. May come in handy later, but you're not going to find anything unusual." 

He chose his words carefully, tamping down a flash of irritation. "What's this really about?"

Anduin draped his leg over the corner of his gaming table. "The summer after Father... returned; after Onyxia, everyone wanted to invite Father for a visit to show how loyal they were and how happy they were that he was back. We spent several weekends at House Isenstrider."

Shaw nodded. It had been an ugly summer; hot and brutal, and he'd sent his newer recruits to watch the children of the nobles to help the thinly-stretched Royal Household Guard. 

"The nannies and tutors who looked after us while the adults had their fun were convinced that Father would marry Lady Isenstrider, making Selkirk my 'older brother.' I heard a lot about how he would make a better crown prince because he was bigger and stronger and even at age ten he was starting to show some skill with swords. In spite of all that adult supervision, the atmosphere in the nurseries was... poisonous. Isenstrider was a braggart and a bore and a bully and he knew how to find and manipulate helpers - including Nardina, who's now his wife. It didn't take long to find a refuge."

"You hid out in the keep library."

"Not hiding. I wanted to be sure that everyone knew exactly where I was and that it was someplace where they needed my permission to come in. Brother Gelen was a real royalist, so I could tell him I wanted to read and when Selkirk and his friends tried to pry me out of the refuge, Gelen would tell them that I was busy and would play later. Nurses and tutors couldn't override him, and the guards kept everyone out till Father came to fetch me home." He held up a game piece that glittered with bright glass beads.. "I started keeping track of Selkirk; who he talked to, who sat next to him and his father at dinner, who he played with. Patterns of politics and power. That's how I knew that it was safe to gamble on Saurfang's honor."

He set it carefully on the board and the lines of light flowed toward the token, connecting it.

Shaw sat up abruptly, suddenly seeing the display board for what it truly was. He'd walked past it -- or versions of it -- hundreds of times over the past decade. seeing it just as a type of chess board; a game that Anduin constantly played in his free time.

Anduin arched an eyebrow at him and grinned wryly. "Survival mechanism, Shaw. I keep track of a lot of people. When everyone thinks you're physically and emotionally weak and suitable only to be a mewling priest hiding in the castle library, it pays to keep track of where your allies and enemies are and who's talking to whom. It also shows key points to break up a group socially."

He pointed to what seemed to be Selkirk's token. "So if the King of Stormwind doesn't come to the ball, then there are others who won't go because they won't be able to catch my ear in a social situation. And all those Kul Tirans that she's invited will end up having to talk to lesser Stormwind nobles. There'll be a net loss of connections to them and a strengthening of my connections." 

The lines winked and reformed as he moved three tokens. " Now, if I send a few casks of wine to the party along with, say, my Spymaster as my stand-in for the evening, it will send quite a message to these social climbers. And don't bother giving me that horrified look, Shaw. It's easier and less messy than a knife in the dark. You have three weeks to plan what you and Fairwind will wear when you present my compliments. And three weeks to teach him proper social decorum. Good luck with that last one." 

He pointed to the large gold-banded piece that sat on the second level, the focus of most of the lines on the board. "This, by the way, is you. And this piece at your side is for your Flynn Fairwind. So you see how important you both are to me. To Stormwind. To the Alliance."

He offered the pair of glass bead spires to his Spymaster, who took them and examined them carefully. Two lives represented in multicolored beads rather than the thick files of paper stored in the SI:7 vaults. "The colors are codes?"

"Yes. I"ll show you sometime. Not now." He rubbed his eyes tiredly, looking a full ten years older than he had that morning. "Right now, I've got more paperwork to finish. Get your sources in Kul Tiras and Goldshire to work. This may be simply some sort of get-together to make connections but I want to remind them all that the kingdom already has a king and doesn't need any new candidates for the position."

Shaw set the two game pieces back on the board and watched as the threads of light gathered and shimmered around them. "I'll start collecting the dossiers on the guests and we'll keep tabs on workers who come and go at the estate."

"Thank you. Anyway, that's all for now. Thank you, Shaw. You've got a home to go to and some interesting explanations ahead of you... and I've got a few more petitions to read."


End file.
